Demigician: Reading the Red Pyramid
by Zosime-Nya-Ride
Summary: The magicians, gods and demigods read the Red Pyramid with Isabelle. Mild swearing.
1. Death at the Needle

**Loved the comments for the prologue! I did decide to listen to my readers so I'm doing the Red Pyramid first.**

**Sadie: Why us? We've got some pretty embarrassing stuff in that recording.**

**Carter: I don't want Zia to know how much in love with her I was.**

**Percy: Dude, she knows that already along with everyone else.**

**Me: Okay, that's enough chit-chat. I wanna go back to the story.**

**Nico: Sure, sweetheart, do whatever you want with us.**

**Me: *grins* maybe I'll get you to be my servant for this chapter and let you go early.**

**Nico: I'll do it, but I'd rather stay with you.**

**Me: Be my guest!**

**Sadie: Stop flirting and get on with the bloody story already! And Nico, stop fawning all over our kidnapper. She's not your girlfriend! Now write!**

**A Death at the Needle**

Sadie and Carter groaned. "Why our lives first? Why not theirs?" she gestured to all the demigods.

"Cause I say so. And I also wanna see what Anubis' reaction will be to when you first met him, Sadie. If Zia didn't already know how madly in love you were with her, Carter, then she will now." The siblings blushed.

"Yes, it will be very interesting." Anubis said, looking at Sadie.

As I opened my mouth to read, a blinding light appeared, leaving Osiris and his wife behind.

"Dad!" Carter and Sadie ran to him and hugged him while Anubis just politely bowed and said a 'Lord Osiris'. Sadie frowned at her mum.

"Hi mum. Why don't you look like a ghost?" Just then, another note fluttered to the ground. Apollo picked it up and read it.

"Hiya people! I just thought Sadie and Carter would like their dad here. Your mum has come back to life for as long as you're reading the books."

Sadie had tears streaming down her face as she hugged her mum.

"You're alive." She sobbed.

"Yes, I am." Ruby replied, shushing her.

Everyone looked at this little scene and when it was over, they explained what everyone was doing there.

"Let's read." Osiris said, smiling. I picked up the book again.

**A Death at the Needle**

**We only have a few hours, so listen carefully.**

"Is there gonna be a lotta fightin' in here?" Ares asked.

Sadie and Carter nodded and their mum paled.

**If you're hearing this story, you're already in danger. Sadie and I might be your only chance.**

**Go to the school. Find the locker.**

"Yeah, that's really clear." Percy said.

**I won't tell you which school or which locker, because if you're the right person you'll find it. The combination is 13/32/33. By the time you finish listening, you'll know what those numbers mean. Just remember the story we're about to tell you isn't complete yet. How it ends will depend on you.**

"No pressure." Nico said.

"We were desperate!" Carter protested.

**The most important thing: when you open the package and find what's inside, **_**don't**_** keep it longer than a week. Sure, it'll be tempting. I mean, it will grant you almost unlimited power. But if you poses it too long it will consume you. Learn its secrets quickly and pass it on. Hide it for the next person, the way Sadie and I did for you. Then prepare for your lives to get very interesting.**

"Interesting?" Poseidon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"More like terrifying."

**Okay, Sadie is telling me to stop stalling and get on with the story. Fine. I guess it happened in London, the night our dad blew up the British Museum.**

All the males sat up straighter and I laughed along with Sadie and Zia.

"Yep, all it takes for a man's attention is to say that something blew up. I suppose I did blow up a lot of things in this, so you'll have no problem keeping entertained!" Sadie said.

"Seeing as the spell for blowing stuff up is your favourite one, I don't really think anyone's surprised!" I said. Everyone chuckled.

Ruby frowned.

"You know, as a responsible parent, I should stop you from using that spell."

"Oh, come on, mum. Anyways, you live in the underworld. I think it'll be kinda difficult seeing as my motto is 'rules are meant to be broken'."

I started reading again before Ruby grounded Sadie to the underworld.

**My name is Carter Kane. I'm fourteen years old and my home is a suitcase.**

**You think I'm kidding?**

"No," all of the demigods said, when Sadie looked at them Annabeth answered, "A lot of us lived out in the regular world at one point before camp. And that's basically how we've all lived at one point or another."

**Since I was eight years old, my dad and I have travelled the world. **

"I've always wanted to do that," Annabeth said dreamily. "And see all the buildings."

"Okay Wise Girl. Seeing as you're the official archite-"

"Percy!" All the demigods yelled.

"Giving away spoilers, are we?" Hera said.

**I was born in L.A. but my dad's an archaeologist, so his work takes him all over. Mostly we go to Egypt, since that's his specialty. **

**Go into a bookstore, find a book about Egypt, there's a pretty good chance it was written by Dr. Julius Kane. You want to know how Egyptians pulled the brains out of mummies, or built the pyramids, or cursed King Tut's tomb? My dad is your man.**

"Your dad is so cool!" Annabth said. "Ive read all his books!"

"Yeah, brilliant!" the smaller Annabeth said.

"Okay wise girls, keep your head on!" Nico said and they both glared at him.

"Fight, fight," Ares began to chant.

"No fighting in the family." Hera said firmly.

"Oh, come on!" Ares complained.

"But they're right, I am cool." Osiris added.

**Of course, there are other reasons my dad moved around so much, but I didn't know his secret back then.**

**I didn't go to school. My dad homeschooled me, if you can call it "home" schooling when you don't have a home. **

"You have a point," Hermes said, "maybe it's on-the-road schooling." everyone rolled their eyes.

**He sort of taught me whatever he thought was important, so I learned a lot about Egypt and basketball stats and my dad's favorite musicians.**

**I read a lot, too—pretty much anything I could get my hands on, from dad's history books to fantasy novels—because I spent a lot of time sitting around in hotels and airports and dig sites in foreign countries where I didn't know anybody.**

Everyone except Sadie was giving him sympathetic looks and Osiris looked at him guiltily.

"Dad, I didn't mean it like this." Carter said. Osiris nodded sadly.

"I understand."

**My dad was always telling me to put the book down and play some ball. You ever tried to start a game of pick-up basketball in Aswan, Egypt? It's not easy.**

"Why?" Hades asked.

"People didn't exactly understand English. And it's not as if they're the biggest basketball fans." Carter answered.

**Anyway, my dad trained me early to keep all my possessions in a single suitcase that fits in an airplane's overhead compartment.**

**My dad packed the same way, except he was allowed an extra workbag for his archaeology tools. Rule number one: I was not allowed to look in his workbag. That's a rule I never broke**

"You can't even tell that we're related!" Sadie said. "Not by looks or personality." Everyone agreed to that.

"But without my by-the-book attitude, we'd be dead about a hundred times." Carter said smugly and Osiris looked alarmed.

**until the day of the explosion.**

**It happened on Christmas Eve. We were in London for visitation day with my sister, Sadie.**

"You'll see." Carter said, noticing the confused looks.

**See, Dad's only allowed two days a year with her—one in the winter, one in the summer—because our grandparents hate him.**

**After our mom died, her parents (our grandparents) had this big court battle with Dad. After six lawyers, two fistfights, and a near fatal attack with a spatula **

"Don't ask," said Sadie wearily.

**(don't ask), **

"Noooooo! Im becoming like Carter!" Sadie said in horror as everyone laughed.

**they won the right to keep Sadie with them in England. She was only six, two years younger than me, and they couldn't keep us both—at least that was their excuse for not taking me.** **So Sadie was raised as a British schoolkid and I traveled around with my dad. We only saw Sadie twice a year, which was fine with me.**

**[Shut up, Sadie. Yes—I'm getting to that part.]**

"You did not just tell me to shut up!" Sadie said and as Carter opened his mouth to reply, knocked him out, ignoring all the astonished looks.

"Sadie!" her mum said.

"Sadie, wake him up." Her dad said. Sadie shook her head.

"Sadie Ruby Kane, wake your brother up right now otherwise you are grounded when we get back and are banned from chewing gum and your ipod and magic!" her dad yelled at her. She looked horrified.

"No chewing gum? Please, not the chewing gum!" she said.

"Sadie..." her mum warned.

"Fine." She grumbled and drew a hieroglyphic that woke up her brother.

"Sadie, you are so gonna pay or that!" Carter said looking mad.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You deserved it anyways." She said.

"Could we carry on now?" Hera said and everyone looked at her in amazement. She hated demigods! "I just want to get this over with." She said.

**So anyway, my dad and I had just flown into Heathrow after a couple of delays. It was a drizzly, cold afternoon. The whole taxi ride into the city, my dad seemed kind of nervous. Now, my dad is a big guy. You wouldn't think anything could make him nervous. He has dark brown skin like mine, piercing brown eyes, a bald head, and a goatee, so he looks like a buff evil scientist. That afternoon he wore his cashmere winter coat and his best brown suit, the one he used for public lectures. Usually he exudes so much confidence that he dominates any room he walks into, but sometimes—like that afternoon—I saw another side to him that I didn't really understand. He kept looking over his shoulder like we were being hunted.**

"**Dad?" I said as we were getting off the A-40. "What's wrong?"**

"**No sign of them," he muttered. Then he must've realized he'd spoken aloud, because he looked at me kind of startled. "Nothing, Carter. Everything's fine."**

"When they say that, you know something's up," Percy said, causing everyone to agree with him. "No one ever tells me anything." He said.

"That's 'cause if they did, you'd end up messing everything." Thalia said.

**Which bothered me because my dad's a terrible liar.**

"Exactly like you," Sadie said.

"That's not true," Carter said back.

**I always knew when he was hiding****something, but I also knew that no amount of pestering will get the truth out of him**. **He was probably trying to protect me, though from what I didn't know. Sometimes I wondered if he had some dark secret in his past, some old enemy following him, maybe; but the idea seemed ridiculous. Dad was just an archaeologist.** **The other thing that troubled me: Dad was clutching his workbag. Usually when he does that, it means we're in danger.**

"Wimp." Ares muttered.

**Like that time gunmen stormed our hotel in Cairo. I heard shots coming from the lobby and ran downstairs to check on my dad. By the time I got there, he was just calmly zipping up his workbag while three unconscious gunmen hung by their feet from the chandelier, their robes falling over their heads so you could see their boxer shorts. **

Everyone laughed.

"Awesome, dad!" Sadie said.

**Dad claimed not to have witnessed anything, and in the end the police blamed a freak chandelier malfunction.**

"How does that happen from a chandelier malfunction?" Grover asked.

"He probably used the glamour," Bast explained.

"You mean mist." Annabeth corrected.

Bast frowned. "Yes, that is probably what you demigods call it." She said.

**Another time, we got caught in a riot in Paris. My dad found the nearest parked car, pushed me into the backseat, and told me to stay down. I pressed myself against the floorboards and kept my eyes shut tight.**

"Are you kidding me," Sadie, Nico, Percy, Connor and Travis exclaimed all at the same time, and then blushed.

**I could hear Dad in the driver's seat, rummaging in his bag, mumbling something to himself while the mob yelled and destroyed things outside. A few minutes later he told me it was safe to get up. Every other car on the block had been overturned and set on fire. Our car had been freshly washed and polished, and several twenty-euro notes had been tucked under the windshield wipers.**

"And you wasn't even a little bit curious?" Sadie asked incredulously. Percy nodded.

"If I were there, I would've been pestering him for ages." He said.

**Anyway, I'd come to respect the bag. It was our good luck charm. But when my dad kept it close, it meant we were going to need good luck.**

"Wimp." Ares muttered and everyone glared at him.

**We drove through the city center, heading east toward my grandparents' flat. We passed the golden gates of Buckingham Palace, the big stone column in Trafalgar Square. London is a pretty cool place, but after you've been traveling for so long, all cities start to blend together. Other kids I meet sometimes say, "Wow, you're so lucky you get to travel so much."**

"Well, you are compared to me." Sadie said in a low, sad voice.

**But it's not like we spend our time sightseeing or have a lot money to travel in style. We've stayed in some pretty rough places, and we hardly ever stay anywhere longer than a few days. Most of the time it feels like we're fugitives rather than tourists.**

"Well, dad is." Sadie said.

**I mean, you wouldn't think my dad's work was dangerous. He does lectures on topics like "Can Egyptian Magic Really Kill You?" **

"Yes." Sadie said, tears running down her cheeks. "Walt is dying right now. What if he dies while we're over here? Or…or…" her voice trailed off and everyone looked at her sympathetically. Anubis came over to her and hugged her. At first she seemed surprised, but then buried her head in his chest, crying.

"Walt's gonna be fine, Sadie. He's not gonna die otherwise you'd go down to the underworld and work that sharp tongue of yours." Anubis said and she smiled, motioning for me to carry on.

**and "Favorite Punishments in the Egyptian Underworld" and other stuff most people wouldn't care about.**

"But we're not most people, are we?" Travis and Connor said, grinning. By now Sadie had fully recovered and was sitting up, laughing about with everyone else.

**But like I said, there's that other side to him. He's always very cautious, checking every hotel room before he lets me walk into it. He'll dart into a museum to see some artifacts, take a few notes, and rush out again like he's afraid to be caught on the security cameras.**

**One time when I was younger, we raced across the Charles de Gaulle airport to catch a last-minute flight, and Dad didn't relax until the plane was off the ground, I asked him point blank what he was running from, and he looked at me like I'd just pulled the pin out of a grenade. **

"Isnt that overreacting a bit, Osiris?" Zia asked, smiling.

"We're not that dangerous."

**For a second I was scared he might actually tell me the truth.**

"Really, Carter." Sadie said. The siblings were absolutely nothing alike.

**Then he said, "Carter, it's nothing." As if "nothing" were the most terrible thing in the world.**

**After that, I decided maybe it was better not to ask questions.**

Sadie shook her head.

**My grandparents, the Fausts, live in a housing development near Canary Wharf, right on the banks of the River Thames. The taxi let us off at the curb, and my dad asked the driver to wait.**

**We were halfway up the walk when Dad froze. He turned and looked behind us.**

"**What?" I asked.**

**Then I saw the man in the trench coat. He was across the street, leaning against a big dead tree, he was barrel shaped, with skin the color of roasted coffee. His coat and black pinstriped suit looked expensive. He had long braided hair and wore a black fedora pulled down low over his dark round glasses.**

"Amos!" Sadie and Carter said together.

**He reminded me of a jazz musician, the kind my dad would always drag me to see in concert. Even though I couldn't see his eyes, I got the impression he was watching us. He might've been an old friend or colleague of Dad's.**

"Or a brother," I said, interrupting myself.

"I know that now." Carter said.

**No matter where we went, Dad was always running into people he knew. But it did seem strange that the guy was waiting here, outside my grandparents'. And he didn't look happy.**

"**Carter," my dad said, "go on ahead."**

"**But—"**

"**Get your sister. I'll meet you back at the taxi."**

**He crossed the street toward the man in the trench coat, which left me with two choices: follow my dad and see what was going on, or do what I was told.**

**I decided on the slightly less dangerous path. I went to retrieve my sister.**

"_Slightly_ less dangerous path?" Sadie said, eyebrows raised. Then she split into a wide grin. "Aww, don't tell me I _scared_ you, did I?"

Carter rolled his eyes.

**Before I could even knock, Sadie opened the door.**

"**Late as usual," she said.**

**She was holding her cat, Muffin, who'd been a "going away" gift from Dad six years before. Muffin never seemed to get older or bigger. She had fuzzy yellow-and-black fur like a miniature leopard, alert yellow eyes, and pointy ears that were too tall for her head.**

"That cat was perfect! That's why I-"

"Yes, we get it. No offence, Bast, but I don't wanna give anything away." I said hastily.

**A silver Egyptian pendant dangled from her collar. She didn't look anything like a muffin, but Sadie had been little when she named her, so I guess you have to cut her some slack.** **Sadie hadn't changed much either since last summer.**

**[As I'm recording this, she's standing next to me, glaring, so I'd better be careful how I describe her.]**

"And we have a spark in Carter Kane's brain!" Sadie announced.

**You would never guess she's my sister.**

"At least I have the choice of denying that im related to you." Sadie said.

**First of all, she'd been living in England so long, she has a British accent. Second, she takes after our mom, who was white, so Sadie's skin is much lighter than me. She has straight caramel-colored hair, not exactly blond but not brown, which she usually dyes with streaks of bright colors. That day it had red streaks down the left side. Her eyes are blue. I'm serious. **_**Blue**_** eyes, just like our mom's. She's only twelve, but she's exactly as tall as me, which is really annoying.**

"Oh yeah!" Sadie said, punching the air.

**She was chewing gum as usual, dressed for her day out with Dad in battered jeans, a leather jacket, and combat boots, like she was going to a concert and was hoping to stomp on some people. **

"Yeah, it's cool, but not as much as blowing things up!" Sadie said seriously. We all looked at her like she was a weirdo.

**She had headphones dangling around her neck in case we bored her.**

**[Okay, she didn't hit me, so I guess I did an okay job of describing her.]**

"No, I just wasn't listening," Sadie grinned.

"**Our plane was late," I told her.** **She popped a bubble, rubbed Muffin's head, and tossed the cat inside. "Gran, going out!"**

**From somewhere in the house, Grandma Faust said something I couldn't make out, probably "Don't let them in!"**

"Probably." Sadie shrugged. Osiris made a growling noise from the back of his throat.

**Sadie closed the door and regarded me as if I were a dead mouse her cat had just dragged in.**

"Muffin has better taste than _that_." Sadie said and everyone laughed as Carter scowled.

"**So, here you are again."**

"**Yep."**

"**Come on, then." She sighed. "Let's get on with it."**

Everyone looked at her in shock and she shifted uncomfortably.

**That's the way she was. No "Hi, how you been the last six months? So glad to see you!" **

"Well, are you expecting something special?" Sadie said.

**or anything. But that was okay with me.**

**When you only see each other twice a year, it's like you're distant cousins rather than siblings. We had absolutely nothing in common except our parents.**

"It's my fault." Osiris said, looking down. Sadie went over to him and hugged him. "No, it was that stupid lawyer's fault." She said firmly and I smiled, knowing how much she cared for him.

**We trudged down the steps. I was thinking how she smelled like a combination of old people's house and bubble gum when she stopped so abruptly, I ran into her.**

"**Who's that?" she asked.**

**I'd almost forgotten about the dude in the trench coat. **

"How could you forget about the dude?" Athena said. "If I didn't know something, I would have been really annoyed." She said.

"Well, that's because you're the bloody goddess of wisdom, innit?" Poseidon grumbled. "You're supposed to know everything." Athena opened her mouth to reply but I cut her off by reading.

**He and my dad were standing across the street next to the big tree, having what looked like a serious argument. Dad's back was turned so I couldn't see his face, but he gestured with his hands like he does when he's agitated.**

**The other guy scowled and shook his head.**

"**Dunno," I said. "He was there when we pulled up."**

"**He looks familiar." Sadie frowned like she was trying to remember. "Come on."**

"**Dad wants us to wait in the cab," I said, even though I knew it was no use. Sadie was already in the move.**

"Well, I'm not like you, Carter. I thought we'd already established that." Sadie said.

"Wow, Sadie! You know big words!" Carter shot back.

"Stop this nonsense and get this over with." Dionysus said in his usual bored tone.

**Instead of going straight across the street, she dashed up the sidewalk for half a block, ducking behind cars, then crossed to the opposite side and crouched under a low stone wall. She started sneaking toward our dad. I didn't have much choice but to follow her example, even though it made me feel kind of stupid.**

"**Six years in England," I muttered, "and she thinks she's James Bond."**

Sadie rolled her eyes, "I don't _think_ I'm James Bond, im better than _that_." She said. Carter snorted and she glared at him. He immediately backed down.

**Sadie swatted me without looking back and kept creeping forward.**

**A couple more steps and we were right behind the big dead tree. I could hear my dad on the other side, saying, "—have to, Amos. You know it's the right thing."**

"**No," said the other man, who must've been Amos. His voice was deep and even—very insistent. His accent was American. "If **_**I**_** don't stop you, Julius, **_**they**_** will. The Per Ankh is shadowing you."**

"What's Per Ant?" Nico said.

"Per _Ankh_, you idiot." Zia said, rolling her eyes.

"He is quite stupid, isn't he?" Hera muttered.

**Sadie turned to me and mouth the words "Per **_**what**_**?"**

**I shook my head, just as mystified.**

"**Let's get out of here," I whispered, because I figured we'd be spotted any minute and get in serious trouble. Sadie, of course, ignored me.**

"**They don't know my plan," my father was saying. "By the time they figure it out—"**

"**And the children?" Amos asked. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. "What about them?"**

"**I've made arrangements to protect them," my dad said. "Besides, if I don't do this, we're all in danger. Now, back off."**

"**I can't, Julius."**

"**Then it's a duel you want?" Dad's tone turned deadly serious. "You never could beat me, Amos."**

**I hadn't seen my dad get violent since the Great Spatula Incident, and I wasn't anxious to see a repeat of **_**that**_**, **

"Seriously, what happened?" I asked. "Ive always thought the author couldn't think of what to write but youre actually real, so you don't even have that excuse anymore." I said. Sadie shook her head, looking traumatised.

**but the two men seemed to be edging toward a fight.**

**Before I could react, Sadie popped up and shouted, "Dad!"**

**He looked surprised when she tackled-hugged him, but not nearly as surprised as the other guy, Amos. He backed up so quickly, he tripped over his own trench coat. He'd taken off his glasses. I couldn't help thinking that Sadie was right. He did look familiar—like a very distant memory.**

"A _very_ distant memory," Bast said.

"**I—I must be going," he said. he straightened his fedora and lumbered down the road.**

**Our dad watched him go. He kept one arm protectively around Sadie** **and one hand inside the workbag slung over his shoulder. Finally, when Amos disappeared around the corner, Dad relaxed. He took his hand out of the bag and smiled at Sadie. "Hello, sweetheart."**

**Sadie pushed away from him and crossed her arms. "Oh, now it's **_**sweetheart**_**, is it?**

Osiris hugged his daughter, stroking her hair when he saw how guilty she was.

**You're late. Visitation Day's nearly over! And what was that about? Who's Amos, and what's the Per Ankh?"**

"I'm so sorry." She said guiltily to her father.

**Dad stiffened. He glanced at me like he was wondering how much we'd overheard.**

"You're just like Percy. He ends up 'accidently' overhearing the conversation is well." Annabeth said, playfully glaring at him.

"I can't help it if I'm there at the time!" Percy protested.

"Sure you can't." Thalia said.

"**It's nothing," he said, trying to sound upbeat. "I have a wonderful evening planned. Who'd like a private tour of the British Museum?"**

**Sadie slumped in the back of the taxi between Dad and me.**

"**I can't believe it," she grumbled. "One evening together, and you want to do research."**

"Seriously, though, it _was _really boring when you took us for research." Sadie said with a wobbly smile.

**Dad tried for a smile. "Sweetheart, it'll be fun. The curator of the Egyptian collection personally invited—"**

"**Right, big surprise." Sadie blew a strand of red-streaked hair out of her face. "Christmas Eve, and we're going to see some mouldy old relics from Egypt. Do you ever think about **_**anything**_** else?"**

Once more, Sadie buried her face in her father's chest.

**Dad didn't get mad. He never gets mad at Sadie. He just stared out of the window at the darkening sky and the rain.**

"**Yes," he said quietly. "I do."**

**Whenever Dad got quiet like that and stared off into nowhere, I knew he was thinking about our mom. The last few months, it had been happening a lot. I'd walk into our hotel room and find him with his cell phone in his hands, Mom's picture smiling up at him from the screen—her hair tucked under a headscarf, her blue eyes startlingly bright against the desert backdrop.**

"Dying was my choice." Ruby smiled sadly.

**Or we'd be at some dig site. I'd seen Dad staring at the horizon, and I'd know he was remembering how he's met her—two young scientists in the Valley of the Kings, on a dig to discover a lost tomb. Dad was an Egyptologist. Mom was an anthropologist looking for ancient DNA.**

"How romantic!" Athena said.

"Right. Goddess of wisdom would obviously like a meeting like that." Apollo said.

**He'd told me the story a thousand times. Our taxi snaked its way along the banks of the Thames. Just past Waterloo Bridge, my dad tensed.**

"**Driver," he said. "Stop here a moment."**

**The cabbie pulled over on the Victoria Embankment.**

"**What is it, Dad?" I asked.**

**He got out of the cab like he hadn't heard me. when Sadie and I joined him on the sidewalk, he was staring up at Cleopatra's Needle.**

"Was it because-"

"Yes." Osiris interrupted. Ruby nodded sadly.

**In case you've never seen it: the Needle is an obelisk, not a needle, and it doesn't have anything to do with Cleopatra. I guess the British just thought the name sounded cool when they brought it to London. It's about seventy feet tall, which would've been really impressive back in Ancient Egypt, but on the Thames, with all the tall buildings around, it looks small and sad. You could drive right by it and not even realize you'd just passed something that was a thousand years older than the city of London.**

"**God."**

"Which one?" Hermes asked.

"Obviously me. I'm the hottest." Apollo said.

"Of course you are, you idiot! You're the Sun God!" Artemis said, rolling her eyes.

"So you admit it!" Apollo said, pointing his finger at her triumphantly.

"What… I meant… not like that…" Artemis stuttered. I rolled my eyes and carried on reading.

**Sadie walked around in a frustrated circle. "Do we have to stop for **_**every**_** monument?"**

"I'm so sorry, dad." She said to Osiris, who started to comfort her again.

**My dad stared at the top of the obelisk. "I had to see it again," he murmured. "Where it happened..."**

**A freezing wind blew off the river. I wanted to get back in the cab, but my dad was really starting to worry me. I'd never seen him so distracted.**

"**What, Dad?" I asked. "What happened here?"**

"**The last place I saw her."**

**Sadie stopped pacing. She scowled at me uncertainly,**

"Why scowl at me?" Carter asked. "I was just standing there." Sadie shrugged.

"I dunno. I just did." She said.

**then back at Dad. "Hang on. Do you mean Mum?"**

**Dad brushed Sadie's hair behind her ear, and she was so surprised, she didn't even push him away. **

"I wouldn't have pushed you away anyway." Sadie said to Osiris.

**I felt like the rain had frozen me solid. Mom's death had always been a forbidden subject. I knew she'd died in an accident in London. I knew my grandparents blamed my dad.**

Carter scowled.

**But no one would ever tell us the details. **

"Probably because you wouldn't believe it." Zeus said. "A monster probably attacked her." Sadie shook her head and everyone looked at her curiously.

"You'll find out." She said.

**I'd given up asking my dad, partly because it made him so sad, partly because it made me so sad, partly because he absolutely refused to tell me anything. "When you're older" was all he would say, which was the most frustrating response ever.**

"I know, right? There was this prophecy that was about me and all I knew about it was that it took place when I turned sixteen! No one even told me about it until about a week from my sixteenth birthday!" Percy complained.

Don't get too worked up, seaweed brain. You thought the prophecy said you were going to die, remember?" Annabeth said. Percy put an arm around her but quickly removed it when Athena glared at him.

"**You're telling us she died here," I said. "At Cleopatra's Needle? What happened?"**

**He lowered his head.**

"**Dad!" Sadie protested. "I go past this **_**every**_** day, and you mean to say—all this time—and I didn't even **_**know**_**?"**

"I was shocked! I walk past it every day for gods sake!" Sadie said.

"**Do you still have your cat?" Dad asked her, which seemed like a really stupid question.**

"**Of course I've still got the cat!" she said. "What does that have to do with anything?"**

"A lot." Carter said, looking at Sadie. Anubis' eyes widened.

"No way. You mean she was… this will make excellent blackmail material." He grinned evilly.

"Anubis! Don't you dare blackmail her with this! She did it to protect me!" Sadie said, glaring at him. Anubis shrank back under the power of it.

"**And your amulet?"**

"If it wasn't for that amulet, you probably wouldn't be enemies of Desjardins right now." Zia said.

"And Apophis would've taken over the world." Sadie reminded her, causing everyone to pale.

**Sadie's hand went to her neck. When we were little, right before Sadie went to live with our grandparents, Dad had given us both Egyptian amulets. Mine was an Eye of Horus, which was a popular protection symbol in Ancient Egypt.**

**In fact my dad says the modern pharmacist's symbol, Rx, is a simplified version of the Eye of Horus, because medicine is supposed to protect you.**

**Anyway, I always wore my amulet under my shirt, but I figured Sadie would've lost hers or thrown it away.**

"You know, I think Isis learned a lot from me. She learned about the effects of doing things without thinking, which can save the world." Sadie said.

**To my surprise, she nodded. "'Course I have it, Dad, but don't change the subject. Gran's always going on about how you caused Mum's death. That's not true, is it?"**

**We waited. For once, Sadie and I wanted exactly the same thing—the truth.**

"**The night your mother died," my father started, "here at the Needle—"**

**A sudden flash illuminated the embankment. I turned, half blind, and just for a moment I glimpsed two figures: a tall pale man with a forked beard and wearing cream-colored robes, and a coppery-skinned girl**

"You can never escape from me." Zia said.

"That was you?" Demeter asked. "You look like you need more cereal." She said. Everyone groaned.

**in dark blue robes and a headscarf—the kind of clothes I'd seen hundred of times in Egypt. They were just standing there side by side, not twenty feet away, watching us. Then the light faded. The figures melted into a fuzzy afterimage. When my eyes readjusted to the darkness, they were gone.**

"**Um..." Sadie said nervously. "Did you just see that?"**

"**Get in the cab," my dad said, pushing us toward the curb. "We're out of time."**

"Out of time for what?" Annabeth asked. I knew she hated not knowing something, but no one answered.

**From that point on, Dad clammed up.**

"**This isn't the place to talk," he said, glancing behind us. He'd promised the cabbie an extra ten pounds if he got us to the museum in under five minutes, and the cabbie was doing his best.**

"**Dad," I tried, "those people at the river—"**

"**And that other bloke, Amos," Sadie said. "Are they Egyptian police or something?"**

"**Look, both of you," Dad said, "I'm going to need your help tonight. I know it's hard, but you have to be patient. I'll explain everything, I promise, after we get to the museum. I'm going to make everything right again."**

Make _what _right?" Nico asked.

"**What do you mean?" Sadie insisted. "Make **_**what**_** right?**

Nico shrugged as everyone looked at him. "I only said what was on everyone's mind." He said.

"Sadie, you are going to have a very complicated love life." Aphrodite said. Sadie groaned.

"I already have a complicated love life. I'm stuck between two boys, what's more complicated that that?" she said, then seemed to realise exactly what she said and blushed.

**Dad's expression was more than sad. It was almost guilty. With a chill, I thought about what Sadie had said: about our grandparents blaming him for Mom's death. **

**That **_**couldn't**_** be what he was talking about, could it?**

**The cabbie swerved onto Great Russell Street and screeched to a halt in front of the museum's main gates.**

"**Just follow my lead," Dad told us. "When we meet the curator, act normal."**

**I was thinking that Sadie never acted **_**normal**_**,**

"I don't act normal?" Sadie said indiginantly.

**but I decided not to say anything.**

"Good. You would've had a broken nose if you did." Sadie muttered and Ares chuckled.

"Do you two always get into fights? 'Cause right now you're my favourite siblings." He said.

"You're Egyptian counterpart, Horus is worse." Carter said. "He wanted me to wish him a happy birthday when we were fighting _Set_, the god of chaos." Carter said and everyone laughed.

**We climbed out of the cab. I got our luggage while Dad paid the driver with a big wad of cash. Then he did something strange. He threw a handful of small objects into the backseat—they looked like stones, but it was too dark for me to be sure. "Keep driving," he told the cabbie. "Take us to Chelsea."**

**That made no sense since we were already out of the cab, but the driver sped off. I glanced at Dad, then back at the cab, and before it turned the corner and disappeared in the dark, I caught a weird glimpse of three passengers in the backseat: a man and two kids.**

**I blinked. There was no way the cab could've picked up another fare so fast. **

"You'd be surprised, there's been street fights over who got the cab first." Sadie said.

**"Dad—"**

"**London cabs don't stay empty very long," he said matter-of-factly.**

"Told you." Sadie said.

"**Come along, kids."**

**He marched off through the wrought iron gates. For a second, Sadie and I hesitated.**

"**Carter, **_**what**_** is going on?"**

**I shook my head. "I'm not sure I want to know."**

"I really don't get how you could be my brother." Sadie said.

"**Well, stay out here in the cold if you want, but **_**I'm**_** not leaving without an explanation." She turned and marched after our dad.**

**Looking back on it, I should've run. I should've dragged Sadie out of there and gotten as far away as possible.**

"If you weren't there then we would be enslaved by Apophis by now." I said.

**Instead I followed her through the gates.**

"That's it." I said, shutting the book.

"Have you got a god of chewing gum by any chance?" Sadie asked. "Or any god that can summon some? Mine's finished." Sadie said. Hermes gave some to her and she popped it in her mouth.

"I'll go next, shall I? Carter asked.

**How was it? Do you think any other characters should come in? Please, please review!**


	2. Explosion for Christmas

**A.N Sorry for taking so long to update. I had other things to do, namely a form of torture teachers set called homework. I'm going to do the story with different POVs now.**

**Sadie: Get on with it already.**

**Me: You really need an attitude change.**

**Carter: Yeah, Sadie. You said the exact same thing last chapter.**

**Sadie: You're siding with the evil psycho who kidnapped us? You're a great brother.**

**Carter: Thanks!**

**Sadie: *sighs* I was being sarcastic, Carter.**

**Carter: *blushes* Oh. I knew that.**

**Me: Sure you did. Now is this brother sister spat over yet? I thought you wanted to get out quickly.**

**Sadie: Yeah, but I'm bored.**

**Me: I've got a room where you can blow as much stuff up as you want.**

**Sadie: Cool!**

**Carter: *sighs* typical of Sadie.**

**Me: I had to get her out of the way. On with the story!**

Nico POV

**An Explosion for Christmas****.**

"Best Christmas present ever!" I said sarcastically.

**I'd been to the British Museum before. In fact I've been in more museums than I like to admit—it makes me sound like a total geek.**

"You _are _a total geek." Sadie said. Izzy chuckled.

"So true." She said.

**[That's Sadie in the background, yelling that I **_**am**_** a total geek. Thanks, Sis.]**

"I see Sadie doesn't change much." Anubis chuckled.

"And neither does her sharp tongue." Izzy said, smirking.

"It's kinda weird knowing that you know all about us." Percy said.

**Anyway, the museum was closed and completely dark, but the curator and two security guards were waiting for us on the front steps.**

**"****Dr. Kane!" The curator was a greasy little dude in a cheap suit. I'd seen mummies with more hair and better teeth.**

**"****Your last paper on Imhotep—brilliant! I don't know how you translated those spells!"**

"He's a magician! He probably uses those spells every day!" Anubis said. He looked like my cousin or something.

"Chill it, hothead." Sadie said to him, rolling her eyes. I didn't know how she got away with insulting the gods.

**"****Imhotep," I said. "High priest, architect. Some say he was a magician. Designed the first step pyramid. You know."**

**"****Don't know," Sadie said. "Don't care."**

"Real nice, Sadie." Zia said, rolling her eyes.

"Young lady. You need to be more polite." Sadie's mum said.

"Yes, mother. Whatever you say, mother." Sadie muttered.

"I heard that!" her mum warned.

**Dad expressed his gratitude to the curator for hosting us on a holiday. Then he put his hand on my shoulder. "Dr. Martin, I'd like you to meet Carter and Sadie."**

**"****Ah! Your son, obviously, and—" The curator looked hesitantly at Sadie. "And this young lady?"**

**"****My daughter," Dad said.**

**Dr. Martin's stare went temporarily blank.****Doesn't matter how open-minded or polite people think they are, there's always that moment of confusion that flashes across their faces when they realize Sadie is part of our family. I hate it,**

"Me too." Sadie said.

**but over the years I've come to expect it. The curator regained his smile. "Yes, yes, of course. Right this way, Dr. Kane. We're very honored!"**

"I bet he didn't feel so honoured when you blew up his museum." Izzy said. That girl was beautiful. Not to mention my age. And available.

**The security guards looked the doors behind us. They took our luggage, then one of them reached for Dad's workbag.**

**"****Ah, no," Dad said with a tight smile. "I'll keep this one."**

**The guards stayed in the foyer as we followed the curator into the Great Court. It was ominous at night. Dim light from the glass-domed ceiling cast crosshatched shadows across the walls like a giant spiderweb.**

Athena and both Annabeths shivered.

"Is Annie scared?" mini Travis teased mini Annabeth. She took out her knife and lightning fast was holding it to his throat. Mini Travis looked like he was going to wet himself.

"Wow, Annabeth. You weren't any less visious when you were younger." I said.

**Our footsteps clicked on the white marble floor.**

**"****So," Dad said, "the stone."**

**"****Yes!" the curator said. "Though I can't imagine what new information you could glean from it. It's been studied to death—our most famous artifact, of course."**

**"****Of course," Dad said. "But you may be surprised."**

**"****What's he on about now?" Sadie whispered to me.**

"Oh, just the stone that changed our lives forever, or at least started the change." Carter said.

"I feel for you, man." Beckendorf said. Mini, of course. He was dead in our time.

**I didn't answer. I had a sneaking suspicion what stone they were talking about, but I couldn't figure out why Dad would drag us out on Christmas Eve to see it.**

"Was it to-" Sadie's mum asked.

"Yes" Osiris said. Ruby frowned.

**I wondered what he'd been about to tell us at Cleopatra's Needle—something about our mother and the night she died. And why did he keep glancing around as if he expected those strange people we'd seen at the Needle to pop up again? We were locked in a museum surrounded by guards and high-tech security. Nobody could bother us in here—**

"Wrong."

"I _know _that now! Shut up!"

**I hoped.**

"See?"

**We turned left into the Egyptian wing. The walls were lined with massive statues of the pharaohs and gods, but my dad bypassed them all and went straight for the main attraction in the middle of the room.**

**"****Beautiful," my father murmured. "And it's not a replica?"**

**"****No, no," the curator promised. "We don't always keep the actual stone on display, but for you—this is quite real."**

"What is this mysterious stone, already?" mini Connor asked, frustrated.

**We were staring at a slab of dark gray rock about three feet tall and two feet wide. It sat on a pedestal, encased in a glass box. The flat surface of the stone was chiseled with three distinct bands of writing. The top part was Ancient Egyptian picture writing: hieroglyphics. The middle section...**

**"Demotic," Julius said immediately.**

**I had to rack my brain to remember what my dad called it: **_**Demotic**_**, a kind of writing from the period when the Greeks controlled Egypt and a lot of Greek words got mixed into Egyptian. The last lines were in Greek.**

"So we'd be able to read it." Percy reasoned.

"Gasp! Percy used his brains!" Thalia said in mock surprise. Everyone laughed and Percy looked hurt.

"You're kinda smart, seaweed brain." Annabeth said, hugging him.

"Annabeth!" Athena shrieked.

"Yes mother?"

"You're friends with the Poseidon spawn?"

"Well actually-"

"Yes, she is." Izzy interrupted. She looked at Annabeth and an understanding passed between them. _If she finds out that Percy's your boyfriend she'll blow him to bits._ I decided to carry on reading.

**"****The Rosetta Stone," I said.**

**"****Isn't that a computer program?" Sadie asked.** **I wanted to tell her how stupid she was.**

"Hey!" Sadie yelled and took out her wand and staff. "How about we have a duel, Carter? In all our time, the only duel we had was the one where I nearly killed you with the lion. I so would have won."

Carter rose to the bait. "You're on." He said.

"Children-" Osiris began, but stopped when Sadie threw her staff at Carter and it turned into a t-rex. He destroyed it and took Sadie and Carter's other wands and staffs.

"Dad!" Sadie protested. "That was my favourite staff!" she huffed.

"No fighting, young lady." He said sternly.

"No fair. I want a fight." Ares complained.

**but the curator cut me off with a nervous laugh. "Young lady, the Rosetta Stone was the key to deciphering hieroglyphics! It was discovered by Napoleon's army in 1799 and—"**

**"****Oh, right," Sadie said. "I remember now."**

**I knew she was just saying that to shut him up,**

"So true." Sadie said.

**but my dad wouldn't let it go.**

"That is right. I thought it necessary that she knew." Osiris said.

**"****Sadie," he said, "until this stone was discovered, regular mortals... er, I mean, no one had been able to read hieroglyphics for centuries. The written language of Egypt had been completely forgotten. Then a Frenchman named Champollion took up the work and cracked the code of hieroglyphics."**

**Sadie chewed her gum, unimpressed. "What's it say, then?"**

"All of that and you ask what it says?" Anubis asked, stunned. Sadie shrugged.

**Dad shrugged. "Nothing important. It's basically a thank-you letter from some priests to King Ptolemy V.**

"Imagine being trapped in it." Sadie wailed, but not in her usual voice. "Shut up, Isis." Sadie said normally, but angry.

"Er… Sadie, you do realise you're talking to yourself?" Annabeth asked.

"No I'm not, I'm talking to Isis." She said as if that cleared everything up.

Anubis laughed. "They probably think you're mad. Come on, aunt. You can spend time outside your host and make comments to everyone. You too, cousin." As he said that, curling mist came out of Sadie and Carter's mouths and they collapsed.

"You could have warned us." Sadie groaned as the mist took shape of a man and woman.

"Everyone, say hello to Isis and Horus, who have possessed us. A small part of them is still inside us, but that can't come out unless they want to lose anchorage on this world. It'll explain." she said. "I've been talking to Isis sometimes inside my head."

"Ew! They were inside?" Silena asked. Carter nodded.

**When it was first carved, the stone was no big deal. But over the centuries... over the centuries it has become a powerful symbol. Perhaps the most important connection between Ancient Egypt and the modern world. I was a fool not to realize its potential sooner."**

**He'd lost me, and apparently the curator too.**

**"****Dr. Kane?" he asked. "Are you quite all right?"**

**Dad breathed deeply. "My apologies, Dr. Martin. I was just... thinking aloud. If I could have the glass removed? And if you could bring me the papers I asked for from your archives."**

**Dr. Martin nodded. He pressed a code into a small remote control, and the front of the glass box clicked open.**

**"****It will take a few minutes to retrieve the notes," Dr. Martin said. "For anyone else, I would hesitate to grant unguarded access to the stone, as you've requested. I trust you'll be careful."**

**He glanced at us kids like we were troublemakers.**

"I wouldn't call _Carter_ a troublemaker, but Sadie, on the other hand..." Izzy trailed off. I smirked.

"Your impulsiveness gets us into trouble too much." Carter said. Sadie tried to protest but Anubis agreed so she shut up. I turned my head back to Izzy just in time to catch her looking at me. She blushed and turned away and I decided to carry on reading so Aphrodite won't have time to quiz us about it.

**"****We'll be careful," Dad promised.**

**As soon as Dr. Martin's steps receded, Dad turned to us with a frantic look in his eyes. "Children, this is very important. You have to stay out of this room."**

**He slipped his workbag off his shoulder and unzipped it just enough to pull out a bike chain and padlock. "Follow Dr. Martin. You'll find his office at the end of the Great Court on the left. There's only one entrance. Once he's inside, wrap this around the door handles and lock it tight. We need to delay him."**

**"****You want us to lock him in?" Sadie asked, suddenly interested. "Brilliant!"**

"Of course," Zia said, exasperated. "Just tell her she can lock someone in and she thinks it a great idea!"

"Your dad's almost as great as ours!" Travis and Connor yelled and high fived Hermes. Osiris smiled.

**"****Dad," I said, "what's going on?"**

**"****We don't have time for explanations," he said. "This will be our only chance. They're coming."**

**"****Who's coming?" Sadie asked.**

**He took Sadie by the shoulders. "Sweetheart, I love you. **

"I love you too, dad." Sadie said.

**And I'm sorry... I'm sorry for many things, but there's no time now. If this works, I promise I'll make everything better for all of us. Carter, you're my brave man. You have to trust me. Remember, lock up Dr. Martin. Then stay out of this room!"**

"That sounded like a goodbye." I said, beginning to understand.

**Chaining the curator's door was easy.**

"Of course it was. You had me along." Sadie said proudly.

"Sadie, you could be my daughter." Hermes said.

"But she's mine." Osiris said, drawing Sadie into a hug. Carter looked- was that _jealousy_?

**But as soon as we'd finished, we looked back the way we'd come and saw blue light streaming from the Egyptian gallery, as if our dad had installed a giant glowing aquarium.**

**Sadie locked eyes with me. "Honestly, do you have **_**any**_** idea what he's up to?"**

**"****None," I said. "But he's been acting strange lately. Thinking a lot about Mom. He keeps her picture..."**

**I didn't want to say more. Fortunately Sadie nodded like she understood.**

"I _did_ understand," Sadie said sadly. "Gran and Gramps do that, too..."

**"****What's in his workbag?" she asked.**

**"****I don't know. He told me never to look."**

**Sadie raised an eyebrow. "And you never did? God, that is so like you Carter. You're hopeless."**

"He hasn't gotten better." Sadie said.

"There was also the fact that he _always_ had his workbag near him, so even if I tried, he would've caught me," Carter added. Sadie looked at her father to see if this was true. Osiris nodded and Sadie huffed.

"_I _would have found a way."

"But I knew I could trust Carter not to." Osiris said. Carter beamed.

**I wanted to defend myself,**

Sadie snorted. "Yeah right. You wouldn't know a thing about defending yourself against my… _sharp tongue_." She said the last bit glaring at Anubis, who winced.

"You have a sharp gaze to match that sharp tongue." He said. Izzy and I snickered.

**but just then a tremor shook the floor.**

**Startled, Sadie grabbed my arm. "He told us to stay put. I suppose you're going to follow that order too?"**

**Actually, that order was sounding pretty good to me,**

"Then why didn't you follow it?" Osiris demanded as Ares muttered 'wimp' under his breath.

"I wasn't about to let my baby sister get hurt, was I?" Carter said.

Osiris groaned. "I should have known."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "She's just like Seaweed Brain, except even _he's _not stupid enough to go _looking_ for trouble."

"Really? When did he get so clever?" Thalia said in mock surprise.

"Shut it, Pinecone Face." Percy growled. Thalia staged a yawn.

"Pinecone face? Getting bored, Kelp Head."

"Everyone shut up!" Mini Clarisse said.

**but Sadie sprinted down the hall, and after a moment's hesitation, I ran after her.**

**When we reached the entrance of the Egyptian gallery, we stopped dead in our tracks. Our dad stood in front of the Rosetta Stone with his back to us. A blue circle glowed on the floor around him, as if someone had switched on hidden neon tubes in the floor.**

**My dad had thrown off his overcoat. His workbag lay open at his feet, revealing a wooden box about two feet long, painted with Egyptian images.**

**"****What's he holding?" Sadie whispered to me. "Is that a boomerang?"**

"A _boomerang_?" Osiris exclaimed. "That's your first thought of a wand? A _boomerang_?"

**Sure enough, when Dad raised his hand, he was brandishing a curved white stick. It did look like a boomerang.**

"See? Even Carter thought it looked like a boomerang!" Sadie said defensively.

**But instead of throwing the stick,**

"I don't think throwing a wand would be very helpful," Anubis said.

Sadie, Carter and Izzy looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Show him, Sadie." Izzy said between gasps. "Summon a load of fruit bats for your brother." Sadie grinned and summoned a load of fruit bats, which were coming straight at Carter, who grinned and held out his wand.

"Observe." He said and threw the wand, which took out all the fruit bats and zoomed back to his hand.

Anubis watched, open mothed. "Desjardins set up a few spells at his house." Sadie grimaced.

"Who's-"

"You'll find out." Carter said.

"You broke into Desjardins' house?" Zia shrieked. Sadie rolled her eyes.

"When we thought he was evil!" she said. This was really confusing me.

**he touched it to the Rosetta Stone. Sadie caught her breath. Dad was **_**writing**_** on the stone. Wherever the boomerang made contact, glowing blue lines appeared on the granite. Hieroglyphs.**

**It made no sense. How could he write glowing words with a stick? But the image was bright and clear: ram's horns above a box and an X.**

**"**_**Open**_**," Sadie murmured. I stared at her, because it sounded like she had just translated the word, but that was impossible. I'd been hanging around Dad for years, and even I could read only a few hieroglyphs. They are seriously hard to learn.**

"Who's the better magician?" Sadie taunted.

"That was Isis, so it doesn't count." Carter said.

**Dad raised his arms. He chanted: "**_**Wo-seer, i-ei**_**." And two more hieroglyphic symbols burned blue against the surface of the Rosetta Stone.**

**As stunned as I was, I recognized the first symbol. It was the name of the Egyptian god of the dead.**

**"****Wo-seer," I whispered. I'd never heard it pronounced that way, but I knew what it meant.****"Osiris."**

**"**_**Osiris, come**_**," Sadie said, as if in a trance.**

"I _was_ in a trance," Sadie corrected.

**Then her eyes widened. "No!" she shouted. "Dad, no!"**

**Our father turned in surprise. He started to say, "Children—" but it was too late. The ground rumbled. The blue light turned to searing white, and the Rosetta Stone exploded.**

**When I regained consciousness, the first thing I heard was laughter—horrible, gleeful laughter mixed with the blare of the museum's security alarms.**

Sadie shivered. Anubis rubbed soothing circles on her back, making her turn red.

**I felt like I'd just been run over by a tractor. I sat up, dazed, and spit a piece of Rosetta Stone out of my mouth.**

"And let me tell you this, a thousand year old stone does _not _taste good." Sadie said.

**The gallery was in ruins. Waves of fire rippled in pools along the floor. Giant statues had toppled. Sarcophagi had been knocked off their pedestals. Pieces of Rosetta Stone had exploded outward with such a force that they'd embedded themselves in the columns, the walls, the other exhibits.**

Zia winced. "_That_ bad?"

Carter nodded. "_That_ bad."

**Sadie was passed out next to me, but she looked unharmed. I shook her shoulder, and she grunted. "Ugh."**

"How charming." Mini Travis said in an English accent.

**In front of us, where the Rosetta Stone had been, stood a smoking, sheared-off pedestal. The floor was blackened in a starburst pattern, except for the glowing blue circle around our father.**

**He was facing our direction, but he didn't seem to be looking at us. A bloody cut ran across his scalp.**

Sadie, Carter and Ruby winced.

**He gripped the boomerang tightly.**

**I didn't understand what he was looking at. Then the horrible laughter echoed around the room again, and I realized it was coming from right in front of me.**

**Something stood between our father and us. At first, I could barely make it out—just a flicker of heat. But as I concentrated, it took on a vague form—the fiery outline of a man.**

**He was taller than Dad, and his laugh cut through me like a chainsaw.**

"I know what you mean." Percy said. We all grimaced thinking of Kronos.

**"****Well done," he said to my father. "Very well done, Julius."**

**"****You were not summoned!" My father's voice trembled. He held up the boomerang, but the fiery man flicked one finger, and the stick flew from Dad's hand, shattering against the wall.**

**"****I am never summoned, Julius," the man purred. "But when you open a door, you must be prepared for guests to walk through."**

**"****Back to the Duat!" my father roared. "I have the power of the Great King!"**

**"****Oh, scary," the fiery man said with amusement. "And even if you knew how to use that power, which you do not,**

"Yes he does," Anubis and Carter said through gritted teeth.

**he was never my match. I am the strongest. Now you will share his fate."**

**I couldn't make sense with it, but I knew that I had to help my dad. I tried to pick up the nearest chunk of stone, but I was so terrified my fingers felt frozen and numb. My hands were useless.**

**Dad shot me a silent look of warning: **_**Get out**_**. I realized he was intentionally keeping the fiery man's back to us, hoping Sadie and I would escape unnoticed.**

"At least you got my message," Osiris grumbled.

**Sadie was still groggy. I managed to drag her behind a column, into the shadows. When she started to protest, I clamped my hand over her mouth. That woke her up.**

"I didn't know where your hand had been!" Sadie said.

**She saw what was happening and stopped fighting.**

**Alarms blared. Fire circled around the doorways of the gallery. The guards had to be on their way, but I wasn't sure if that was a good thing for us.**

**Dad crouched to the floor, keeping his eyes on his enemy, and opened his painted wooden box. He brought out a small rod like a ruler. He muttered something under his breath and the rod elongated into a wooden staff as tall as he was.**

**Sadie made a squeaking sound. I couldn't believe my eyes either, but things only got weirder.**

"Things _always_ get weirder," Carter mumbled. All the Greeks agreed.

**Dad threw his staff at the fiery man's feet, and it changed into an enormous serpent—**

"Why a _serpent_?"

"I had always admired Moses," Osiris shrugged._ Okay._

**ten feet long and as big around as I was—with coppery scales and glowing red eyes. It lunged at the fiery man, who effortlessly grabbed the serpent by its neck. The man's hand burst into white-hot flames, and the snake burned to ashes.**

**"****An old trick, Julius," the fiery man chided.**

Annabeth gasped, probably realizing who he was. Lucky her.

"Who _is _he?" I asked.

"You'll find out." Was all that Carter said.

**My dad glanced at us, silently urging us again to run. Part of me refused to believe any of this was real. Maybe I was unconscious, having a nightmare. Next to me, Sadie picked up a chunk of stone.**

**"****How many?" my dad asked quickly, trying to keep the fiery man's attention. "How many did I release?"**

**"****Why, all five," the man said, as if explaining something to a child. "You should know we're a package deal, Julius. Soon I'll release even more, and they'll be grateful. I shall be named king again."**

**"****The Demon Days," my father said. "They'll stop you before it's too late."**

"And that's when the world started to rest on our shoulders," Carter told Sadie. Sadie nodded and smiled.

"At least we met lots of new people." She said with a sideways glance to Anubis. Then her expression turned to horror.

"Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no!" she repeated.

"Sadie, what's wrong?" Carter asked. You could see he was getting scared.

"Carter! You're asking me what's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong! Some things in here are private, like the feather of truth." She said. Carter looked confused but Anubis' eyes widened.

"You bastard!" Sadie shrieked. She was on a roll. "You bastard, Anubis! Out of all the questions you could have asked me, you had to ask me that." She said, tears streaming down her cheeks. Anubis paled.

"I'm sorry, Sadie. I didn't… I wouldn't… I didn't mean to hurt you." He stuttered.

"Save it! You got your answer and carried on happily on your way while I was tormented until the end. Didn't you ever wonder that it would make me think of the kind of daughter I am?" She asked.

"Sadie, what did Anubis do?" Osiris asked.

Sadie slumped. "You'll find out."

Izzy tentively moved to her side and whispered something in her ear. Sadie calmed down and looked at her hopefully.

"Yo really think so?" she asked and Izzy nodded. She smiled weakly.

**The fiery man laughed. "You think the House can stop me? Those old fools can't even stop arguing among themselves. Now let the story be told anew. And this time you shall **_**never**_** rise!"**

**The fiery man waved his hand. The blue circle at Dad's feet went dark. Dad grabbed for his toolbox, but it skittered across the floor.**

**"****Good-bye, Osiris," the fiery man said. With another flick of his hand, he conjured a glowing coffin around our dad. **

"Like Set did to Osiris." Annabeth said.

"That was Set?" I asked. Anubis nodded.

"Yes, that was my father." Then he looked at Sadie.

"Sadie, I really am sorry about… about the incident." He said. Sadie nodded.

"It's okay. Really." She said.

**At first it was transparent, but as our father struggled and pounded on its sides, the coffin became more and more solid—a golden Egyptian sarcophagus inlaid with jewels. My dad caught my eyes one last time, and mouthed the word **_**Run!**_** before the coffin sank into the floor, as if the ground had turned to water.**

Carter flinched.

**"****Dad!" I screamed.**

**Sadie threw her stone, but it sailed harmlessly through the fiery man's head.**

Remind you of anything? Namely a plastic blue hairbrush?" Percy said.

**He turned, and for one terrible moment, his face appeared in the flames. What I saw made no sense. It was as if someone had superimposed two different faces on top of each other—one almost human, with pale skin, cruel, angular features, and glowing red eyes, the other like an animal with dark fur and sharp fangs. Worse than a dog or a wolf or a lion—some animal I'd never seen before. Those red eyes staring at me, and I knew I was going to die.**

"No you _won't_," Ruby said fiercely.

**Behind me, heavy footsteps echoed on the marble floor of the Great Court. Voices were barking orders. The security guards, maybe the police—but they'd never get here in time.**

**The fiery man lunged at us. A few inches from my face, something shoved him backward.**

"That would be me." Horus said. "I saved your life."

"Save it, man. You nearly got me killed enough times later on." Carter said and Osiris paled.

"More fighting!" Ares shouted and everyone yelled 'shut up' at him.

**The air sparked with electricity. The amulet around my neck grew uncomfortably hot.**

**The fiery man hissed, regarding me more carefully. "So... it's **_**you**_**."**

**The building shook again. At the opposite end of the room, part of the wall exploded in a brilliant flash of light. Two people stepped through the gap—the man and the girl we'd seen at the Needle, their robes swirling around them. Both of them held staffs.****The fiery man snarled. He looked at me one last time and said, "Soon, boy."**

**Then the entire room erupted in flames. A blast of heat sucked all the air out of my lungs and I crumbled to the floor.****The last thing I remember, the man with the forked beard and the girl in blue were standing over me. I heard the security guards running and shouting, getting closer. The girl crouched over me and drew a long curved knife from her belt.**

**"****We must act quickly," she told the man.**

"Sorry about that." Zia said.

"No problem." Carter replied.

**"****Not yet," he said with some reluctance. His thick accent sounded French. "We must be sure before we destroy them."**

**I closed my eyes and drifted into unconsciousness.**

"That's it." I said.

"Could we have some lunch." Apollo said. All the boys agreed.

"Boys." Artemis said disdaintfully.

"Join back here after lunch." Zeus said and everyone went to the kitchen.

**A/N: Yes! Finally got it finish. They have some lunch next. For pairings I'm thinking of doing Nico/Izzy Sadie/Anubis Carter/Zia Percy/Annabeth. Tell me if you want anymore. Love it? Hate it? Tell me all about it and review!**


	3. Lunch Break

**A.N Hey guys!**

**Sadie: Do you have to say that in before every chapter?**

**Me: No but I want to.**

**Sadie: *Rolls her eyes* it's getting tiring**

**Me: I thought you weren't back from blowing things up.**

**Sadie: I got tired of it. I think I've blown enough things up.**

**Me: …**

**Sadie: Yeah, that's right. Sadie Kane doesn't want to blow something up!**

**Carter: Let's get on with the story now, shall we.**

**Sadie: Yeah, lets.**

**Me: ok. Here's the chapter then, guys!**

Sadie POV

I was still mad. Kind of. Maybe. It's not fair! Anubis' gorgeous chocolate brown eyes make my brain stop working! He has an unfair advantage.

"Hey Sadie!" Izzy said.

"Hey Izzy." I replied warily. She watched me, head cocked to one side trying to figure out what was wrong and then finally understood. She whispered something in my ear and went to talk to Nico.

Izzy POV

"You might just be in a chance with Anubis." I whispered in Sadie's ear and walked off to talk to Nico. He was cute. I really hoped we could be friends. Or more than that. Now why did I just think that? I shook my head and said hi.

Nico POV

Izzy _was_ really beautiful. And how she laughed… I shook my head. No way. She doesn't like me like that so I should get the idea out of my head.

Anubis POV

Sadie… Sadie… Sadie…

I shook my head. I really need to stop thinking about her. She doesn't even like me! I sighed. Later on, me and Hathor would be having some quality time talking about my favourite person. The divorce papers were nearly done is well. When we got back, I wouldn't be married to Anput anymore. She had gotten really demanding and clingy over the last century. His thoughts strayed back to Sadie and he glanced her way to see that, to his surprise, she was making her way towards him.

Annabeth POV

This was really interesting. I hadn't ever thought about the idea of gods other than our own existing. It would definitely give me an excuse to do some more research on them. I wonder if any magicians would let me into the first Nome. The library must be fascinating. I was jolted out of my thoughts as Percy came and put an arm around me.

"Bad news," he whispered. "Athena alert. She's coming over now, and by the look of things, she is _mad_." I groaned. This was the last thing I wanted right now.

Athena POV

I stormed over to my daughter and the Poseidon spawn. There is no way I'd let them even be friends in the future. After all, weren't they sent back into the past so that things can change for the better? Aphrodite tried to intercept me but I waved her away.

"_Not now_, Aphrodite," I said, glancing at the couple and Aphrodite looked stricken as she processed what I meant.

"But, but, you need a makeover! Yeah, you need a complete makeover. I mean, look at those clothes!" Aphrodite said and started to drag me away.

Izzy POV

"Hey, Nico! Listen, about earlier, I'm sorry for punching you," I said. _Way to go, Izzy. You'll be BFF's in no time! _I thought sarcastically to myself.

"It's fine," He said. _Gods, he's being quieter than Fang._

"So… Friends?" I asked, holding out my hand. Nico smiled and shook it.

"Friends," he agreed. I smiled.

"Everybody get back into your places. We are going to carry on reading now!" Zeus shouted over the noise.

We all sat down, preparing ourselves mentally for the next chapter.

**There it was! Please, please, please forgive me for taking so long to update. Thanks to all my reviewers! Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. Carry on reviewing!**


	4. Imprisoned by my cat part 1

**A.N. S'up?**

**Percy: The sky?**

**Me: Somebody wack Percy for me.**

***Annabeth wacks Percy***

**Percy: Ow! You're supposed to be on my side! What happened to the *sniffs dramatically* supportive girlfriend I knew.**

**Sadie: Get over it.**

**Carter: At least you have a girlfriend *sighs* Zia…**

**Zia: Leeets just get on with the story.**

**Me: Whatever. But before we do, **_**please**_** don't kill me for taking so long to update, and also from now on, I've decided I'm going to kill the little minis.**

**Percy: *Gasp!* You want to kill cute little Annabeth?  
>Me: Since I forgot about the minis until now, yeah, I do.<strong>

**Right. On with the story!**

"**Imprisoned with my cat**", Zeus read.

**[Give me the bloody mic.]**

"**Tut, tut," Min**

**Hullo. Sadie here. My brother's a rubbish storyteller.**

"No I'm not!" Carter cried.

"Sorry to break it to you, bro, but you are," Sadie replied nonchalantly.

"No he's not," Zia said. "He just… makes thing seem more dramatic."

"Which is a good thing, unless it's actually real, of course, 'cause then it'd just scare everyone off," I said.

"It IS real!" Annabeth said exasperatedly.

**Sorry about that. But now you've got me, so all is well.**

Carter snorted in disbelief. "Sadie? Making things _well_? Now THAT would be a miracle."

**Let's see. The explosion. Rosetta Stone in a billion pieces. Fiery evil bloke. Dad boxed in a coffin. Creepy Frenchman and Arab girl with the knife.** **Us passing out. Right.**

"Great summary," Percy laughed.

**So when I woke up, the police were rushing about as you might expect. They separated me from my brother. I didn't really mind that part. He's a pain anyway.**

"Sadie, apologise to your brother," Julius said sternly.

"Dad, it happened one or two _years_ ago," Sadie pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. You two need to get along," Ruby countered. Sadie reluctantly apologised and Carter smirked.

"If you make them apologise every time they argue, we'll be here forever," Apollo joked.

**But they locked me in the curator's for **_**ages**_**.** **And yes, they used **_**our**_** bicycle chain to do it. Cretins.**

Everyone laughed.

**I was shattered, of course. I'd just been knocked out by a fiery whatever-it-was.**

"It is a Set," I joked. "They are repulsive creatures that love to kill you,"

**I'd watch my dad get packed in a sarcophagus and shot through the floor. I tried to tell the police about all that, but did they care? No.**

**Worst of all: I had a lingering chill, as if someone was pushing ice-cold needles into the back of my neck.**

**It had started when I looked at those at those blue glowing words Dad had drawn on the Rosetta Stone and I **_**knew**_** what they meant. A family disease, perhaps? Can knowledge of boring Egyptian stuff be hereditary?**

Nico raised an eyebrow. Damn! I wish I could do that! "Considering that the 'boring Egyptian stuff' gets you killed, is it really that boring?"

**With my luck.**

**Long after my gum had gone stale, a policewoman finally retrieved me from the curator's office. She asked me no questions. She just trundled me into a police car and took me home. Even then, I wasn't allowed to explain to Gran and Gramps. The policewoman just tossed me into my room and I waited. And waited.**

**I don't like waiting.**

"No," Anubis said sarcastically.

"Great job, Nube! You got the hang of sarcasm! There's hope for you yet, bud." Apollo said. Anubis scowled.

"Don't call me Nube."

**I paced the floor. My room was nothing posh, just an attic space with a window and a bed and a desk. There wasn't much to do. Muffin sniffed my legs and her tail puffed up like a bottlebrush. I suppose she doesn't fancy the smell of museums. She hissed and disappeared under the bed.**

"Coward," Anubis muttered. Just then, there was a flash of light and a woman appeared.

"I am no more of a coward than you, dog," she sneered. Bast.

"Bast!" Sadie cried and hugged her.

"Hello Sadie. I am glad to see no one has killed my kittens yet."

A couple of people sniggered and Sadie glared at them.

"**Thanks a lot," I muttered.**

**I opened the door, but the policewoman was standing guard.**

"**The inspector will be with you in a moment," she told me. "Please stay inside."**

**I could see downstairs—just a glimpse of Gramps pacing the room, wringing his hands, while Carter and a police inspector talked on the sofa. I couldn't make out what they were saying.**

"**Could I just use the loo?" I asked the nice officer.**

"**No." She closed the door in my face. As if I might rig an explosion in the toilet.**

"Knowing you, probably," I said, amused. Sadie scowled.

"I'm not stupid, you know!" Carter fake gasped.

"Really? You had all of us fooled."

**Honestly.** **I dug out my iPod and scrolled through my playlist. Nothing struck me. I threw it on my bed in disgust. When I'm too distracted for music, that is a very sad thing. I wondered why Carter got to talk to the police first.** **It wasn't fair.**

**I fiddled with the necklace Dad had given me. I'd never been sure what the symbol meant. Carter's was obviously an eye, but mine looked a bit like an angel, or perhaps a killer alien robot.** **Why on earth had Dad asked if I still had it? **_**Of course**_** I still had it. It was the only gift he'd ever given me.**

Osiris gave her an apologetic look and she smiled reassuringly.

**Well, apart from Muffin, and with the cat's attitude, I'm not sure I would call her a proper gift.**

"Hey!" Bast said, offended.

"I didn't know you were you then, if that makes sense." Sadie explained.

"It doesn't," Nico smirked.

**Dad had practically abandoned me at age six, after all.** **The necklace was my one link to him. On good days I would stare at it and remember him fondly. On bad days (which were much more frequent) I would fling it across the room and stomp on it and curse him for not being around, which I found quite therapeutic. But in the end, I always put it back on.**

**At any rate, during the weirdness at the museum—and I'm not making this up—the necklace got **_**hotter**_**. I nearly took it off,** **but I couldn't help wondering if it truly was protecting me somehow.**

_**I'll make things right**_**, Dad had said, with that guilty look he often gives me.**

**Well, colossal fail, Dad.**

**What had he been thinking? I wanted to believe it had all been a bad dream: the glowing hieroglyphs, the snake staff, the coffin. Things like that simply don't happen. But I knew better. I couldn't dream anything as horrifying as that fiery man's face when he'd turned on us. "Soon, boy," he'd told Carter, as if he intended to track us down. Just the idea made me tremble. I also couldn't help wondering about our stop at Cleopatra's Needle, how Dad had insisted on seeing it, as if he were steeling his courage, as if what he did at the British Museum had something to do with my mum.** **My eyes wandered across my room and fixed on my desk.**

_**No**_**, I thought. **_**Not going to do it**_**.**

**But I walked over and opened the drawer. I shoved aside a few old mags, my stash of sweets, a stack of maths homework I'd forgotten to hand in, and a few pictures of me and my mates Liz and Emma** **trying on ridiculous hats in Camden Market. And there at the bottom of it all was the picture of Mum.**

**Gran and Gramps had loads of pictures. They keep a shrine to Ruby in the hall cupboard—** **Mum's childhood artwork, her O-level results, her graduation picture from university, her favorite jewelry. It's quite mental.** **I was determined not to be like them, living in the past. I barely remembered Mum, after all, and nothing could change the fact she was dead.**

**But I did keep the one picture. It was of Mum and me at our house in Los Angeles, just after I was born. She stood out on the balcony, the Pacific Ocean behind her, holding a wrinkled pudgy lump of baby that would some day grow up to be yours truly. Baby me was not much to look at, but Mum was gorgeous, even in shorts and a tattered T-shirt. Her eyes were deep blue. Her blond hair was clipped back. Her skin was perfect. Quite depressing compared to mine. People always say I look like her, but I couldn't even get the spot off my chin much less look so mature and beautiful.**

**[Stop smirking, Carter.]**

**The photo fascinated me because I hardly remembered our lives together at all. But the main reason I'd kept the photo was because of the symbol on Mum's T-shirt: one of those life symbols—an ankh.**

**My dead mother wearing the symbol for life. Nothing could've been sadder.** **But she smiled at the camera as if she knew a secret. As if my dad and she were sharing a private joke.**

**Something tugged at the back of my mind. That stocky man in the trench coat who'd been arguing with Dad across the street—he'd said something about the Per Ankh.**

**Had he meant **_**ankh**_** as in the symbol for life, and if so, what was a **_**per**_**? I supposed he didn't mean pear as in the fruit.** **I had an eerie feeling that if I saw the words **_**Per Ankh**_** written in hieroglyphs, I would know what they meant.**

**I put down the picture of Mum. I picked up a pencil and turned over one of my old homework papers. I wondered what happen if I tried to **_**draw**_** the words **_**Per Ankh**_**. Would the right design just occur to me?**

**As I touched pencil to paper, my bedroom door opened. "Miss Kane?"**

**I whirled and dropped the pencil.**

**A police inspector stood frowning in my doorway. "What are you doing?"**

"**Maths," I said.**

**My ceiling was quite low, so the inspector had to stoop to come in. He wore a lint-colored suit that matched his gray hair and his ashen face. "Now then, Sadie. I'm Chief Inspector Williams. Let's have a chat, shall we? Sit down."**

**I didn't sit, and neither did he, which must've annoyed him. It's hard to look in charge when you're hunched over like Quasimodo.**

"**Tell me everything, please," he said, "from the time your father came round to get you."**

**So I told him everything. Why not? His left eyebrow crept higher and higher as I told him the strange bits like the glowing letters and serpent staff.**

"**Well, Sadie," Inspector Williams said. "You've got quite an imagination."**

"**I'm not lying, Inspector. And I think your eyebrow is trying to escape."**

**He tried to look at his eyebrows, then scowled. "Now, Sadie, I'm sure this is very hard on you. I understand you want to protect your father's reputation. But he's gone now—"**

"**You mean through the floor in a coffin," I insisted. "He's **_**not**_** dead."**

**Inspector Williams spread his hands. "Sadie, I'm very sorry. But we must find out why he did this act of... well..."**

"**Act of **_**what**_**?"**

**He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Your father destroyed priceless artifacts and apparently killed himself in the process. We'd very much like to know why."**

**I stared at him. "Are you saying my father's a terrorist? Are you **_**mad**_**?"**

"**We've made calls to some of your father's associates. I understand his behavior had become erratic since your mother's death. He'd become withdrawn and obsessive in his studies, spending more and more time in Egypt—"**

"**He's a bloody Egyptologist! You should be looking for him, not asking stupid questions!"**

"**Sadie," he said, and I could hear in his voice that he was resisting the urge to strangle me. Strangely, I get this a lot from adults.**

"**There are extremist groups in Egypt that object to Egyptian artifacts being kept in other countries' museums. These people might have approached your father. Perhaps in his state, your father became an easy target for them. If you've heard him mention any names—"**

**I stormed past him to the window. I was so angry I could hardly think. I refused to believe Dad was dead. No, no, no. And a terrorist? Please. Why did adults have to be so thick? They always say "tell the truth," and when you do, they don't believe you. What's the point?**

**I stared down at the dark street. Suddenly that cold tingly feeling got worse than ever. I focused on the dead tree where I'd met Dad earlier. Standing there now, in the dim light of a streetlamp, looking up at me, was the pudgy bloke in the black trench coat and the round glasses and the fedora—the man Dad had called Amos.**

**I'm sooooo sorry for ending it early, but I sorta had to. By the way, there is tis fanfic I read ages ago that I'm trying to find- It's a Maximum Ride fanfic where she lost her voice when her abusive father hit her on her neck and all her friends were distant after that because they thought she chose not to speak to them and started to bully her until her ex besty, Fang, found her one day about to commit suicide and then a bunch o' other things happen. Please, please PLEASE tell me if you know what I'm talking abput because I'm going crazy trying to find it! I you do, could you send it in a PM or in a review please? Thank you sooooo much.**


	5. Discontinued and up for adoption

**Hey guys! Okay I know you probably want to kill me, but could you put down your axes and hear me out.**

** Okay, so the thing is, I've got a severe case of writers block. You might have noticed that the second half of the last chapter was only half completed, but I am putting this up for adoption, so the first person to PM me will get to adopt my story! Yay!**


	6. Congratulations to Flygrrl!

All right, so I got some quick responses, but this story will be adopted by...

*Drum Roll*

**Flygrrl**!


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